Riverside
Police Department
Press Release

For Immediate Release

Date

June 28, 2003

Contact

Officer Felix Medina

Phone

(909) 826-5939

Fax

(909) 826-2594

Riverside
Police Employee’s to be Nationally Recognized by APCO, International

Riverside, Ca- On Monday, August 11, 2003, Public Safety
Communications Manager Cherie Curzon and Public Safety Communications Supervisor
John Wright will be recognized by the Association of Public-Safety
Communications Officials, - International, Inc. The recognition will take place
at APCO’s 69th annual conference and exhibition, being held in
Indianapolis, Indiana at the RCA Dome. Cherie has been selected as APCO’s
Communication Director of the Year and John has been selected as APCO’s
Technician of the Year.

Communications Manager Cherie Curzon began her
employment with the City of Riverside Police Department in 1972. She was
employed as a Police Dispatcher until July 1984 when the Police communications
center was combined with the Fire Department communications center for the City
of Riverside. In December 1984, Cherie was promoted to Communications
Supervisor within the newly established Public Safety Communications Center. In
June of 1987, Cherie was the first woman promoted to a middle management
position in the Riverside Police Department when she became the Communications
Bureau Manager. She has been the manager of the City’s award winning and
nationally recognized Public Safety Communications Center for 16 years.

John Wright has been involved in communications
and electronics since taking electronics courses at Ramona High School where he
was an active member of the school’s Communications Club. He joined the U.S.
Navy during the Vietnam War and was trained as a Radioman, serving on board the
Logistics Communications Command ship, USS Blue Ridge (LCC19), as a member of
the ship’s commissioning crew. John completed his military tour as a Radioman 2nd
Class (E5) and returned to Riverside where he was hired by the City of Riverside
Fire Department as a Dispatcher in 1972. In 1982, he was hired as a Firefighter
with the City of Riverside and is a graduate from the Crafton Hills Fire
Academy. John continued his college education, taking classes in electronics
and business and received a degree in Accounting/Business Administration. In
1985, John was hired as a Communications Supervisor for the City of Riverside
Police Department.